A new air route linking Shenyang, the administrative center of northeast China's Liaoning Province, with Germany's Frankfurt am Main will be opened on April 25. The announcement was made by China Southern Airlines on Wednesday.

It will be the first scheduled flight directly connecting Northeast China and Germany to be operated by a Chinese airline. The flights will be operated every Thursday using an Airbus A350-900 airliner.

The flight duration will be about 11 hours, which is more than five hours shorter than other transit routes.

Germany is a major source of foreign investment and an important trading partner of Liaoning Province. The new air route is expected to fully meet the growing demand for business and family visits as well as educational and tourist travel between the two destinations.

An index tracking the performance of China's commodities market declined in February this year, data from the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing showed.

China's commodity index stood at 111.4 last month, down 0.7 percent from January this year. The drop in the index was attributed to a drop in demand during the Spring Festival holiday.

The effect of the government's counter-cyclical policy is gradually manifested, and the production activities of enterprises in the post-holiday period are gaining momentum. Therefore, the space for market price decline is expected to be limited and the positive trend of economic recovery with subsequent improvement is expected to be further strengthened, the federation said.

A new direct passenger air route connecting Chongqing city in southwest China with Milan in Italy was launched on Tuesday, according to Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport.

According to the aforementioned airport, it is the first direct passenger air route linking the western part of China and Milan.

The new round-trip flight will be operated twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays by Boeing 787 aircraft of China's Hainan Airlines.

China has decided to introduce one-way visa-free travel for citizens of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia on a trial basis. From December 1, 2023 to November 30, 2024, holders of ordinary passports from the above six countries will be able to stay in China without a visa for trade and tourism activities, visits to relatives and friends and transit for a maximum of 15 days.

Jiangbei Airport currently operates 22 international and regional passenger air routes, with more than 110 weekly flights. Destinations include major cities such as London, Paris, Madrid, Rome, Sydney and Singapore.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Huangpu Customs reported an increase in the number of international freight train departures in the first two months of this year.

A total of 62 international freight trains carrying 6,810 standard TEU containers /20-foot equivalent units/ of cargo were handled by the staff of the aforementioned Customs Service, up 26.5 percent and 45.4 percent compared with the same period last year.

Huangpu Customs Service oversees customs affairs in major production and export areas of Guangdong Province, including the city of Dandong. Guangdong, including Dongguan City and Huangpu and Zengcheng districts in Guangzhou, the administrative center of the province. Under its customs control, the first freight train was dispatched from Guangdong Province in 2013. The first freight train of China-Europe international rail transportation was dispatched from Guangdong in 2013.

In 2023, 444 China-Europe freight trains were dispatched under its control, four times as many as in 2020.

French shipping company CMA CGM Group has announced it will resume Red Sea transits on a case-by-case basis.

The Marseille-based carrier said, "We have reevaluated the situation in the Southern Area of the Red Sea and the evolving conditions allow us to resume transit on a case-by-case basis."

CMA CGM noted that "the situation is being closely assessed for each vessel before each transit, routing choices, therefore, cannot be anticipated or communicated."

Otherwise, all other vessels will be rerouted via the Cape of Good Hope.

The French container line halted sailings through the Red Sea on 1 February routing all its vessels via the Cape of Good Hope due to continued attacks on cargo ships in the region from Yemen's Houthi movement.